


Intent And Purpose

by polyamory



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Meet the Family, Mistletoe, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Castiel, Oblivious Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyamory/pseuds/polyamory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel comes to Dean, asking him to act as his fake boyfriend for the weekend, Dean is more than a little suprised, but not reluctant to accompany Castiel and meet his family.<br/>It's just for two days after all and he won't let his true feelings for Castiel get in the way, right? Yeah, right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intent And Purpose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fio/gifts).



> This is my contribution to the Destiel Secret Santa over on tumblr and it's a gift for homoerotics/fio. Hope you enjoy this!  
> I wrote the first half of this over the course of two weeks and the last 3000 words in one night. So glad to have this finished.

"Dean, I need you to be my boyfriend!"

 

"Wh- what?" Dean sputters, pulling out from under the truck he's working on. Castiel is standing in the door way of the garage, silhouetted against the light, looking like he's gonna bring thunder and rain down upon Dean.

"I need you to be my boyfriend." Cas repeats as if he were talking to a toddler, taking a step towards Dean with each word until the other man is looking down on him where he's still lying on the ground, covered in grime and car oil.

And, okay yeah, Cas has never been particularly good at thoughts to words transition, either has no filter or can't properly word his thoughts, his brain jumping ahead of him so it's hard to catch up with his logic, but this is a new low. Even for him.

"Um, okay." Dean says, getting up and wiping his hands on the towel he keeps tucked into the back pocket of his jeans. "You do know that people, I mean normal people," he leans against the car behind him, "normally go about this different, right? Like, usually you'll ask someone out on a– "

"No, Dean. I- what I mean is I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend." Cas interrupts him. Dean feels the tips of his ears go red and mentally stomps the tender feeling of hope and happiness that had started to blossom in his chest. Right, no way Cas would ever be serious about that.

"My brother insisted I need to return home for the annual Christmas dinner this year. I didn't participate in the last two years and I think if I don't join them this year one of them will actually come here to 'drag my ass back there' like Raphael threatens to do every year." He makes quotation marks with his fingers, for Christ's sake. How anyone couldn't find Cas completely endearing, Dean doesn't know.

"But if he threatens you with it every year and you're still alive he's obviously never followed through with it." Dean replies, and this might seem like an overreaction, but Dean has heard enough tales about Castiel's brothers to know that it's probably an understatement.

"Dean," Cas says in his _this is no time for jokes_ voice, which he mainly, only, uses with Dean.

"Okay, okay." Dean relents, "But I still don't see why you need me to be your fake gay boyfriend." he adds, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Everyone will be there, Dean. Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Anna, Balthazar, even Gabriel. They will– they tend to– " Cas is struggling for words, his hands clenched into fists in the pockets of his trench coat. Dean is about to put the poor guy out of his misery before he chokes on his own tongue when Cas all of a sudden blurts out the words, "They've been trying to hook me up for years."

He deflates after that confession, as if it's something that's been building up inside of him. Dean can't help it when he grips Castiel's shoulder and leads him over to sit down at the table in the corner. Although he's a grown man, Castiel still manages to look like a puppy sometimes. Dean thinks it's a superpower, but he hasn't made up his mind yet if it's that of a hero or a villain. Cas can certainly do _bad_ things to Dean.

"So, tell me if I get this wrong, you have to spend Christmas with your family and they're trying to set you up. So, you want me, your best friend, to act as your boyfriend," he summarizes, taking his hand off of Castiel's pristine trench coat when he sees all the dirt under his fingernails.

"Yes," Castile says. Dean considers it for a moment. _What is there to consider?_ a voice that sounds far too much like Sammy perks up in his head. He can almost _taste_ the bitch face in that statement, it's so strong. _Pretending to date your best friend who you're basically in love with? In front of his whole family? Sounds like a great idea, Dean._ And Dean fully agrees with that.

"Sign me up." he says, giving Cas a cheerful smile, who looks up surprised at his words. In his head, Sam sighs.

"Really?" Cas asks like he didn't think Dean would actually help him out.

"Sure thing. That's what friends are for, right? To help their friends." And yes, this is what this is, Dean tells himself. A friend helping out a friend. No hidden agenda in agreeing to that, no ulterior motive, like getting to kiss Cas or being able to touch him whenever he wants to, hold his hand and stare at him for as long as he wants. Because that's what's gonna happen, right? They have one hell of a family to convince after all.

 

* * *

 

"Castiel!" Gabriel cries out as he flings the door open. "How ya doing, old sport?"

Castiel nods, stepping into the house, but stopping Gabriel when he moves to close the door.

"Huh?" Gabriel looks back at him over his shoulder, light brown eyes full of energy.

"I brought someone along." he explains shortly, reminding himself that his older brother hates these family events just as much as he does, hadn't turned up to one since he left for college until two years ago after their mother died. They're allies in this civil war.

Did he– did he really just think that? Apparently, yes. He's spending way too much time with Dean.

Which– Dean is walking up the front yard, carrying their other two bags. Something inside of him preens at the thought, _their_ bags. Castiel had suggested sharing bags in the name of deceit. He looks back at Gabriel now to see the smaller man run his eyes up and down the length of Dean's body and Castiel can't help it when his eyes follow his brother's gaze.

Dean is wearing an old flannel, which Castiel knows he stole from his brother Sam when he was visiting Dean and is soft from the many times it's been worn, and a shirt under it, his trademark leather jacket thrown over his shoulder. He'd taken it off in the car, shortly after they entered Florida and handed it to Castiel, always keeping one hand on the steering wheel (Dean had insisted they take his car because Castiel's own was apparently "a poor excuse of a car better fitted for the scrapyard than the street") and Castiel had felt the warm material in his hands, the smell of old leather and _Dean_ and he is _so far gone._

He lets his eyes wander up to Dean's face, over his chin and jawline, clean shaven, up to his lips, so plump and pink, and his tongue pokes out, wetting his lower lip as if he can feel Castiel's gaze on him. Which, yes he can because when he finally lets his eyes stray from Dean's lips up to Dean's eyes, mesmerizing orbs of emerald green, he finds said eyes looking right back at him.

Quickly Castiel drops his eyes to the floor as Gabriel lets out a low whistle.

"Please tell me you’re tapping that, Cassy." he says, just loud enough for Dean who is still coming towards them, to hear. Castiel looks up at him, and yes, Dean is smirking at him, just as he expected, one side of his mouth pulled up slightly and one eyebrow arched as if to say _Yeah, Cas. Tell your brother you're tapping that._ He feels himself blush (cursed be his light skin) and clears his throat briefly.

"Dean and I have been dating for some time, yes." he admits just as Dean reaches the door.

"Obviously," Gabriel admits, "if you're brave enough to bring him to the nuthouse." He smiles up at Dean, then, stretching out his hand to shake Dean's. Dean, bless him, isn't in the slightest deterred by Gabriel's comment, or at least really good at not showing it, and simply lets the duffel bags he's been carrying fall to his sides and grabs Gabriel's hand.

"Dean," Gabriel nods and his smile has an edge to it Castiel had learned to fear in his childhood years.

"Short, cocky, blonde. You must be Gabriel, then." Dean replies and Gabriel's smirk turns into a laugh as he drops Dean's hand.

"I like that one." he says to Castiel.

"So does he," Dean says, throwing Castiel a smirk. That just makes his brother laugh harder.

"Come on in, then. The others'll be burning to meet you." Gabriel leads them down the hallway and when he enters the living room he sucks in a big gulp of air. "CASTIEL BROUGHT HIS BOYFRIEND HOME FOR CHRISTMAAAAAAS!!!" he bellows.

"Was that really necessary?" Castiel hisses from behind his brother. Throughout the whole house frantic scrambling can be heard, someone yells, heavy footsteps as someone pounds down the stairs and a moment later the whole Milton clan is gathered in the living room, all staring at him and Dean.

Weirdly enough, Castiel is the one ducking behind Dean and, shouldn't it be the other way around? Yes, Castiel decides, from what he's seen in movies, meeting your partner's family should be frightful for you and not for your partner. Granted, most people don't have a family like Castiel's.

For a few long seconds no one moves, Castiel doesn't even dare breathe. He feels as if he's standing in front of a cage full of hungry lions and someone just opened the cage doors.

Anna is the first to move, bringing everyone else out of their shocked stupor when she bounces across the room and throws herself at Castiel, something that sounds terrifying and probably would be except she's a flailing mess of limbs and she's squealing and her hair is tickling his cheek as she presses her face into his neck.

"Hey," he manages when she finally lets him breathe again.

"I thought you'd never come around again." she scolds, but her expression is fond. "I missed you." she adds, low enough that no one but Gabriel and Dean, who are standing right by them, can hear it.

"I missed you, too" Castiel admits, and it's true. Anna has always been his favorite one out of all his siblings.

"So who is this then?" she asks as she turns towards Dean, who's standing two steps behind Castiel.

"Uh... this is Dean. Dean, this is Anna, my older sister." Castiel says, turning towards Dean, too. He watches as Dean goes forward to shake Anna's hand and gets swept up in a hug instead. He blinks owlishly at Castiel over her shoulder, before lightly settling his arms around her. His eyes are still a little widened though, panicky.

Castiel shrugs and sends him an apologetic, little smile. This is just how things go in this family.

"Hello Dean. It's really nice to meet you." Anna says. She brushes her red hair from her face as she looks at Castiel. "I'd like to say I've heard a lot about you but I actually didn't ever hear anything about you before today."

Dean smiles at her and waves it away. "I've heard a lot of you." he says instead, "Only good stuff, don't worry." he laughs as Anna turns first towards him and then to Castiel at these words.

"As if there's anything bad to tell about me," she grumbles under her breath and that sparks a new flood of laughter from Dean. Castiel can't help but think that if Dean weren't here acting as his fake boyfriend Anna and him would probably end up in a hotel room by the end of the night. The thought stings in a most uncomfortable way, and not just because Anna is his sister.

Someone clears their throat from the other side of the room and Castiel snaps his head around to see Lucifer has stepped forward from where he was standing in the kitchen doorway.

"As much as I'm truly touched watching this reunion scene with your favorite sibling, Castiel, you do have other brothers, too." he says, stretching his arms out.

When Castiel walks forward to give him a hug he feels like he's a little boy again.

He introduces Dean to Lucifer, who thankfully doesn't startle at the name because Castiel has told him almost all the stories from his childhood (and yeah, so maybe Dean was telling the truth about only hearing good stuff about Anna, but he isn't saying that to any of Castiel's brothers). Lucifer looks him up and down with an assessing gaze, judging Dean like he's a bull for sale on the cattle market. And even though the sharp, pale blue eyes aren't turned on him, Castiel can feel the intensity of the stare, crawling over his skin like it's alive.

"Pleasure to meet you, Dean." Lucifer downright purrs, and it even sounds creepy to Castiel's ears, and he's been subjected to his brother's ways for all his life.

In the background he hears Gabriel mutter something that sounds like "Freak!"

Lucifer is just the first third of the triad, Castiel knows that, and he watches in, maybe not horror, but most definitely fearful anticipation as Lucifer backs away and Raphael and Michael greet Dean.

Raphael is as distant as ever, speaking clipped and little, but Michael shakes Deans hand and stares him down, or tries to because Dean stares right back and the tension in the room keeps growing as neither of the two shows any sign of averting their eyes until Gabriel, blessed be he, coughs awkwardly and says, much in the same fashion as Lucifer had, "As much as I'd love to get some popcorn and continue watching your little alpha male ping pong mind ball game," (That is not a word, Castiel is quite sure.) "I think you're forgetting a brother here."

Balthazar comes forward on cue from where he was leaning in the shadows of the hallway. He waves a hand at Gabriel, rolling his eyes in that exasperated, exaggerated way he perfected as a teenager. "Never mind me, Gabriel sweetheart. It seems of the bunch of us I'm the most easily ignored."

"Weird how with you being the prettiest of the bunch." Anna throws in, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh don't mind her," he says to Dean as he walks over to where he and Michael stand and pries him away from Michael's stony stare and tight grip. "She's still angry at me for stealing her tank tops in high school." That cracks Dean up and the sound makes a bit of the tension ease from Castiel's shoulders, loosening the situation up effectively.

This is something Balthazar has always been good at, turning uncomfortable situations around, stopping the tension from boiling over, something that proved itself essential when growing up in a chaotic household like theirs.

 

* * *

 

Dinner after that is, to put it charitably, awkward.

The silences are numerous and heavy, tension-laden and full of meaningful stares between the Milton siblings.

Dean tries to keep up a conversation as best as possible. He finds he likes Anna a lot. She's pretty, undeniably so, and sweet and he can tell right away that she cares a lot about Castiel. She was the one who protected him when his older brothers picked on him. Cas had told him that much. It must be rough being the youngest child in a family that large, but Dean can't say he knows how it feels.

Gabriel and Balthazar are kind of assholes, but they're also kind of funny. They're just a little bit too much like him, their humor too alike for them to really get along well, but he thinks they'll be great to have prank wars with.

Then he remembers that he's not actually Cas' boyfriend and that he'll probably never see the other's family again. That thought puts a damper on his good mood and it doesn't go up again until he's trudging up the stairs behind Castiel towards his bedroom.

It had only occurred to him once Lucifer (really, who the fuck names his kid Lucifer?!) had mentioned it, that Cas and him were expected to sleep in the same room, the same bed.

He doesn't flush at the thought, not at all.

There is another awkward moment when Castiel enters his childhood room, slumping down on the bed immediately, but jumps up a second later. He looks at Dean and swallows a few times before saying, voice low and nervous, "I can sleep on the floor if you want. There's got to be an air mattress somewhere in the closet."

Dean goes still at these words, forcing himself back into motion almost immediately, worried that Cas will misread his rigidness. He figures Cas will be uncomfortable sleeping in a bed with him, but feels the need to over the bed to the guest.

"No, no. It's alright, you take the bed. It's yours after all." Castiel looks hesitant for a second and then he crosses his arms across his chest.

"No. You're my guest and, by God, I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor."

With these words he opens the closet, rummaging inside until he finds said air mattress.

They perform an awkward dance around each other when getting ready for bed that makes Dean cringe inside.

When finally Dean is lying down in Cas' old bed with the lights out and Castiel blinking up at him from the floor, he can't wait for this trip to be over. He used to think that his crush on his best friend was painful, but this was way worse. Sure, he got to be near Castiel without it being weird, but he constantly had to watch his mouth and his hands so that he wouldn't blurt out something a little too heartfelt and honest and freak Castiel out with his big gay crush. The last thing he wanted to do was loose his best friend over something stupid like this.

He closes his eyes and is almost off to dreamland when he hears Cas' soft whisper of "Goodnight, Dean" ghost through the darkness. He's not entirely sure if it's already part of his dream or not, but he dreams of Cas and his hands on Dean's ribs and his smile and the wrinkles around his eyes that Dean refers to as rays of sunlight in his head.

When he wakes up, it's to an armful of a soft warm body, chest to chest with another person's breath ghosting over his neck. He blinks his eyes open lazily and is met with the sight of Cas' jaw, Cas' stubble, Cas' cheek and then Cas' eyes, wide and panicked and _so_ blue.

 

* * *

 

Castiel wakes up in the middle of the night because he's freezing. His feet feel like chunks of ice and the lumpy blanket is sufficiently not keeping him warm. It's warm in Florida, but the nights are cool in December and his room is at the northern outer edge of the house.

He looks up to the bed where Dean is snoring lightly, one arm dangling of the bed, right in front of Castiel's face and he lifts his own hand up and brushes his fingertips against Deans and up over the back of his hand. He skims them around his wrist and over his palm, rough from the mechanic work he does every day.

Castiel could probably blame what happens next on the fact that he's still half asleep, but it has a lot more to do with the feel of Dean's skin under his feather-light touch and the way Dean's face has gone all slack and soft now that he's asleep, making him look ten years younger and Castiel can't resist it when he climbs up into the bed next to Dean, nudging the other man over slightly and pulling the blanket over both of them. He presses his cold toes into Dean's calf and Dean shuffles a bit before settling back down with one arm over Castiel's side, snuggling his face into Castiel's neck. Castiel goes rigidly still for all of three seconds before the warmth and the smell of the other man overwhelm him, Dean in such close proximity to himself, and he relaxes into his grip.

His last conscious thought is that he should wake up before Dean so that he doesn't freak him out too much, but before he can even finish thinking the thought he's already out cold.

 

* * *

 

When he wakes up Castiel feels warm and cozy inside. He's not used to waking up next to someone else and it's a wonderful feeling, like he's found heaven right here, right now and he'll be perfectly fine if he never moves again.

Only then he remembers who it is sleeping next to him. Dean, perfectly unsuspicious and hopefully still asleep. He's opened his eyes before he realizes and he only notices he's gone stiff again when Dean squirms against him in a way that would be one hundred shades of interesting if he weren't out of his mind with fear right now.

Dean wakes up only moments later, forest green eyes blinking at him and Castiel is struggling out of Dean's grip and out from under the blanket before he registers moving and by the time Dean opens his mouth Castiel has already disappeared into the adjoining bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him.

 

Dean sits up slowly, his mind still hazy from sleep, and blinks a few times before looking at the door Cas just disappeared through.

"What the hell just happened?" he says to the empty room.

The bed feels cold and uncomfortable now and he gets up and crosses the room to where his duffel is lying, grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt. When he's dressed he knocks on the bathroom door, figuring Cas has had enough time to calm down.

"Cas? Cas, are you alright in there?" Dean leans close to the door, trying the handle only to find out the door is locked. "C'mon, Cas. Open the door!" he says, louder now, but just then he hears the shower starting up. He sighs, sitting down on the bed and running a hand through his hair. Not knowing what had gotten into Castiel, but feeling like he's done something wrong, Dean decides to just go downstairs and check if anyone else is already awake.

It turns out that Anna as well as Michael are already awake and breakfast is tense until Gabriel walks into the kitchen and announces that someone will have to drive to the market to buy a turkey.

_What kind of family doesn't have a turkey ready on Christmas?_ Dean thinks. This one, apparently.

Michael leaves the room immediately with a glance back at them that says _I am above all of you and far too good to be seen at something so profound as a market walking among you peasants._

"Hey, you and Cassy could go." Anna says turning towards him.

"Sure," Dean says with a shrug and Anna gives him a thankful smile over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Where is he, by the way?" Gabriel joins in.

"Last time I checked he was taking a shower." Dean says and Anna starts to giggle, blushing when Dean looks at her, while Gabriel smirks. "What?" he demands, looking between the two of them, Anna where she's sitting across from him at the kitchen table and Gabriel leaning up against the counter behind her.

"Oh, it's nothing." Gabriel says when it looks like Anna's not going to be able to say anything, fighting for air through suppressed laughter.

Dean just looks even more confused, but doesn't push the matter. _Weird family,_ he thinks to himself.

Castiel doesn't show up while Dean is in the kitchen and he doesn't see him later when he goes to help Balthazar and Lucifer decorate the Christmas tree, so they actually end up not talking until they're sitting in the car together on their way to the farmer's market.

_Ask him now, he can't run away here,_ a voice in Dean's head snickers and yeah, he's not even going to evaluate that thought.

"Are you still mad at me?" Cas' voice comes from besides him, timid and low, just as Dean's resigned himself to spending the whole drive in this uncomfortable silence. But it isn't the kind of question he is expecting.

"What!? No! Why would I be mad at you?" he sputters.

"I–" Castiel starts and then stops, doesn't seem to find words to express what he wants to say. He goes for waving his hands through the air in the space between them in an abstract gesture that could mean almost anything. He huffs a little when Dean tells him to be more explicit, his expression is one of someone who has reversed a conversation in his head a hundred times but still isn't in control of it when it actually happens.

For a moment Dean is actually a little scared of how well he can read Castiel, but after all they've been friends for years.

_Friends,_ Dean has to remind himself when he looks over and sees Cas, head bowed looking down at his hands fidgeting in his lap. He wants to kiss the frown off his face, make him smile again. _Friends!_ He screams at himself, _It's just an act to get his brothers off his heels!_

"I'm sorry about what happened this morning." Cas says, so quiet Dean almost doesn't catch the words over the Impala's noise.

"Do you mean the part where we slept in a bed together or the part where you panicked and barricaded yourself in the bathroom?"

"Both." Cas says without looking up. After a brief pause he adds, "I guess."

"Hey," Dean says, "Cas," he waits till the other looks up at him before he continues. "It's not a big deal if we don't make it one, right?"

Truth be told, and he's not gonna do that right now, he had enjoyed it for all of the three seconds he was aware of it until Cas fled to the bathroom like Dean was contagious. He'd been cold at night, Dean figured that much and he kind of felt like an asshole to have taken Cas' bed even though the other insisted. And when he woke up he'd probably feared Dean would read too much into the gesture, considering their circumstances and the reason of their visit.

"Yeah," Castiel agrees and Dean thinks that look on his face might be disappointment. _But that doesn't make sense,_ he tells the voice in his head that disagrees, and a moment later he doesn't have any more time to worry about it because they arrive at the market and throw themselves headfirst into the busy crowd.

 

* * *

 

"Castiel!" a booming voice calls from behind them as Cas and he make their way back to the car. Castiel goes still at his side and as Dean turns around he hears him mutter "Oh God. Please, no." His fears seem to be confirmed though when they face the man that called out to him. Dean is taken aback for a moment, staring up into the angry face of the man.

"Uriel," Castiel says, and even Dean can hear the resentment in his voice.

"You're back in town." the man, Uriel apparently, says.

"Duh, obvious." Dean mutters and the man's glare is instantly turned on him.

"Who is this?" He says the words like Sammy had said _What is this?_ that one time he'd opened a paper bag he'd found under Dean's bed.

Dean glances over to his friend briefly and sees Cas blushing and fidgeting, obviously not about to answer.

"I'm Dean. Dean Winchester." he answers instead, turning back to match the other man's stare. "Cas' boyfriend," he adds because he can. And because the words feel damn good on his tongue.

Instead of gracing that with an answer he turns back to Castiel, the other man shrinking further under his heavy stare.

"Is that true?" he asks, voice still booming.

"Dude, why the fuck would I lie?" Dean intervenes, although the man is sending him all kinds of _you're not welcome here_ vibes. "C'mon Cas, let's get going. We have to be back in time." He says, grabbing Cas by the elbow and leads him away, ignoring Uriel's protests behind him. He rushes Cas away from the market and Cas seems just as intent on putting distance between themselves and Uriel as Dean is. Only when they reach the car does he slow down, letting go of Cas where he was still holding onto him.

"What the fuck was that?" he asks once they're in the car on their way back. " _Who_ the fuck was that?"

"Uriel, an old friend of mine." Castiel says, sounding subdued. Dean knows how much Cas loves farmer's markets, he's dragged Dean up in the morning more than once so they could go to one together, so he knows how unlike Cas this is. The encounter must've really unsettled him.

"Friend?" Dean asks incredulous, brain finally catching up with Castiel's words after being momentarily hung up on images of the other man in the light of the morning sun, bowed down over pumpkins, inspecting the various goods.

"We used to work together." Cas says, and then "He was very intent on– pursuing a relationship with me."

"Seriously?!" Dean gapes. At Castiel's small nod he puts a hand on the other man's knee. "Hey, don't worry. You're with me now." _Could've worded that better, Winchester,_ a cynical voice in his head provides, but Dean doesn't care when Cas turns big, blue eyes onto him. He smiles reassuringly until Cas can muster up a small smile of his own. At that a wave of pride swells in Dean because _he_ can make Castiel smile, _he_ can make him feel better, and yeah, he's definitely so far in over his head by now.

 

* * *

 

When they arrive back at the Milton house Cas is immediately drawn into the house by Anna who puts him on cooking duty and Dean is held up by Raphael who starts asking him question about his car. It's quiet nice actually because although Castiel's older brother had seemed cold and withdrawn, still is somehow even now that he's debating different car models with Dean, they have something in common which is much more than he can say about any other of Castiel's brothers.

He doesn't even realize how much time has passed but then Gabriel is poking his head out of the door, telling them dinner is ready, and when Dean looks up the streetlights have been turned on.

Inside the table is laden with food and decorated with holly twigs everyone is already sitting as Dean walks into the room after Raphael, quickly sliding into the only seat left. He finds himself next to Castiel which should not seem weird, as his family thinks they're dating, but somehow is after the scene on the farmer's market.

Dinner passes in relative silence, but it's not nearly as uncomfortable as it was yesterday.

Afterwards Dean offers up to do the dishes with Anna.

"So," Anna says when he's stuck up to the elbow in foamy water, "for how long have you and Cassy been dating?"

"A while, not that long." Dean says, keeping it vague in case she asked Cas that question already. "We've been friends for much longer before that, though." That, at least is the truth.

"He loves you a lot." she says softly and he turns towards her with a small "What?" (It's definitely not a squeak, okay.)

"He's loved you for a long time, probably way before you started dating." she says, smiling up at Dean while wiping plate after plate dry. "I can see it in his eyes whenever he looks at you."

"Oh, really?" he asks eloquently.

She laughs, short and bright. "I can see the same look in your eyes." she says, her eyes twinkling.

Dean almost drops the glass he's cleaning.

"You haven't told him yet?" she asks, looking at where he's clutching at the fragile wine glass, his knuckles turning white. He forces himself to let go of the glass, afraid of braking it, let's out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, answers.

"No, we're not really that far yet." His heart is careening out of his chest and through the open window, his pulse racing, and he has absolutely no idea what's happening, how he got himself into this situation, pretending to be in love with his best friend to his best friend's family while pretending to his best friend that he's not in love with him while really he _is_ in love with him. His head hurts a little just thinking about it.

"You should tell him," Anna says, tilting her head just so in a very Cas-like fashion, her hair falling forward like a curtain, framing her face. "You know, as a Christmas present." She adds a wink before she turns away to put the plates into a cupboard and Dean is left blushing and sputtering and speechless.

 

When he comes into Cas' room later he can hear the water running in the bathroom and a bit later Cas is stepping out of the door, already in his pajamas, tired and hair ruffled.

He goes into the bathroom and makes quick work of brushing his teeth and washing his face, so when he enters the room again the lights are out but Cas is still awake, blinking up at him when Dean leans over the edge of the bed.

"Come up here, you little idiot," he whispers, smiling into the dark and Cas only hesitates for a moment before scrambling up off the air mattress and plopping down onto the bed next to Dean.

"Better?" Dean asks, pulling the blanket up over the two of them and Castiel nods, already drifting off.

It only takes a few minutes for Dean to nod off with Castiel's warm body beside him.

 

* * *

 

Waking up the next morning is less awkward and Dean actually gets a round in the bathroom. He tells Cas as much and the other throws a damp towel at him in response.

They go downstairs together only to find the rest of the family already awake and sitting around the Christmas tree, although Gabriel is still in what Dean assumes to be his pajamas and he very much doesn't look awake.

"We were just waiting for you." Balthazar says when they appear at the bottom of the stairs.

"Merry Christmas to you too." Castiel says, walking over to the couch.

Dean sits back as the siblings hand out presents to each other and gets the feeling they're not really close at all. There are a lot of socks and scarfs involved and Cas only looks positively happy at Anna's and Gabriel's presents, a first edition of some old as fuck book, and his favorite sweets, salmiak, which is not candy in Dean's opinion, like _at all_. Balthazar's present makes Cas choke on his own tongue and blush vigorously and he snaps the box closed before Dean can get a look at it. Balthazar smirks at them from where he's sitting on the other couch across the room.

When it's Cas' turn to hand out presents he turns to Dean and says, in a low voice, "I'll give you your present later when we're alone."

Gabriel is doubled over in laughter before Dean can even properly register the words. Anna is laughing and so is Lucifer, Balthazar smirking and giving Cas a look that says _I know everything you get up to at night, you smooth motherfucker_. Michael is looking at his siblings disturbed and vaguely angry as if he wants to chide them all like small children. Raphael looks as detached as ever. Dean has to admit the words definitely sounded like an innuendo, but he just knows Castiel too much to mistake it for that. Instead he nods and chooses not to react to the others until even Gabriel has calmed back down.

Then, Anna gets up and puts on some girly Christmas remix and everything becomes a bit lighter as they get off the couches and spread around the room.

Somehow Dean ends up leaning against the wall right next to the door that leads to the kitchen and when Castiel walks up to him with a glass of wine in each hand Anna pokes her head out of the kitchen to point out. "Mistletoe!"

Dean looks up and, indeed there's mistletoe hanging right above their heads, nailed to the door frame. When he looks back down Cas is looking at him, and so is the rest of the room.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Gabriel chants under his breath and Dean shrugs and gives Castiel a half smile as if to say _What can I do? That's the rules._

He leans forward, eyes locked on Cas', and tilts his head slightly. Cas still hasn't moved and Dean stills, waiting for him to make the move and close the distance between them. Eventually Cas does and Dean feels his eyes flutter close. He's imagined kissing Castiel more than just a few times but when it actually happens it's something else entirely. It's not timid or shy, Cas mouth is hard and warm and a little chapped against his and Dean grabs at his elbows because he's still holding the wine.

Someone coughs behind them prompting Cas to pull away and Dean can't help chasing his mouth before he, too, leans back into his own space, refusing to look at the room or anyone in it.

Luckily, the oven goes off dinging in that exact moment, saving all of them from having to come up with something to break the awkward silence.

Anna rushes back into the kitchen and Castiel follows close while Dean hangs back and ends up entering the kitchen last, yet again sitting next to Castiel.

After lunch Cas rushes up to his room and Dean follows him, closing the door behind him with a firm click. He's pretty sure he's seen this scene in both porn and a horror movie and maybe something that was a little of both.

Castiel is kneeling on the floor next to his own duffel. He digs around a bit before finding what he's looking for, straightening and turning back to Dean.

"Here," he says, shoving something at Dean and making eye contact for all of two seconds before looking at his feet as if they're the most interesting thing in the world.

Dean looks at what Cas gave him and realizes it's a present, _his_ present.

He sits down on the bed, grabbing Castiel's wrist and pulling him down next to him before starting to unwrap the present.

Underneath the layer of wrapping paper is a roll of parchment and Dean unrolls it slowly. His eyes widen as he takes it in.

It's a painting of– of himself, Dean realizes. Drawn by Castiel, he realizes further. It looks amazing. He's laughing, his head thrown back, eyes shut and clearly not aware of being watched. The background is a vibrant green, the color of his eyes, and suddenly Dean remembers the situation; they'd been out in a restaurant together, celebrating Castiel's birthday and the waitress had asked him what he and his date wanted to drink. He'd laughed at that and told her _Honey, he's not my date. He's my best friend._

He looks up at said best friend and remembers something else. _You should tell him._ Anna's voice sounds in his head, _you know, as a Christmas present._

But he doesn't have the words and so, instead of stumbling over words and making things awkward and messed up, he surges forward, pushing the drawing gently onto the bed. He cups Cas' face in his hands and before the other can do much more than gasp in surprise he's kissing him again.

This time is different. For one, they're alone, not in a room with Cas' whole family watching and for another, this kiss wasn't initiated by a random plant hanging around over their heads.

 

Dean kisses him with intent, like he's looking for the answer to every question ever asked and Castiel opens up, takes and gives in equal parts and it seems like Dean finds his answers if the noise he makes is any indication.

He pulls away after a few blissful moments thought, because he has some questions himself.

"I– You–" he starts, eloquent as ever.

"Yes. Oh god, yes." Dean mutters, already pulling Castiel back in and he's not putting up much resistance.

When they pull away to catch their breath Dean presses their foreheads together and Castiel brings his head up to his neck.

"When– How long?" he asks, in between short ragged breaths.

"So long, Cas. So long, god, you have no idea." Dean murmurs and kisses him again.

They stay like this, moving down to lie on the bed at some point, Dean carefully putting the drawing aside before lying down next to Castiel. They kiss and touch, hands wandering up under the hem of shirts, gasping into each other's mouth, never breaking contact.

 

* * *

 

When they leave that evening Anna hugs him and wishes him good luck.

"You should really keep that one," she murmurs into his ear and he can't help it when he blushes furiously when Dean snakes an arm around his waist and smiles at her.

On the car ride home they listen to an old 80's mix and at some point Dean puts a hand onto Castiel's knee and smiles at him. For a moment Castiel can do nothing more than stare at the image in front of him. The setting sun is shining through the trees, illuminating one side of Dean's face and casting shadows over the other half. His eyes sparkle and his skin glows softly in the golden light.

 

He's so beautiful Castiel forgets how to breathe.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Intent and Purpose](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4118691) by [MusicalRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalRaven/pseuds/MusicalRaven)




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